Marian II
"Thorny Triple Threat" Marian II is the boss of Mission 8 in Double Dragon Neon. It is a giant mutant flytrap plant that punches with its bulb vines and spews bones. __TOC__ Description Marian II is a giant mutated flytrap plant that attacks with a pair of serpentine-like bulb vines and can also spew bones as projectiles. There are four power-ups scattered on each corner of the room to be used throughout the course of the battle. The buds are the creature's weak spot in the first phase of the battle, while the plant's mouth is completely impervious to harm. The best moments to attack them is while they are floating on the edge of the screen while deciding their next attack, or by luring them into smashing onto the ground, where they will remain temporarily stunned afterward, providing an opportunity for the player to attack them at will. The vines have the following attacks: *The bud tracks the player and tries to position itself above them, then it heavily slams onto the ground in an attempt to crush them. Each bud can either perform this attack on its own or work in tandem with the other bud. *The bud remains on the edge of the screen while slowly tracking the player; once locked-on, it will launch itself to the opposite side in an attempt to bump into them; an attack that may prove dangerous as it can inflict multiple hits while it is on its way. *Similar to the first attack, the bud will start "bouncing" around the battlefield. Each bud can perform this attack on its own, although most of the times both buds perform it together. Marian II also has an attack of its own; it starts vomiting a myriad of bones (likely the remains of previous victims that served as meals) all across the screen, which come in different patterns. The spots where these projectiles will hit can be predicted by the shadows they project on the floor, hinting the player where they need to move or jump in order to avoid them. Fortunately, every once in a while Marian II will instead vomit an array of power-ups. Instead of picking them all up at once, the player is advised to just use those that are currently necessary and leave the rest for later use. As such, it may be possible to perform several Sosetsitsu techniques to heavily damage the monster in a short time by using special attacks repeatedly until the energy bar depletes, quickly grab an energy replenishing power-up, and then continue attacking it; repeating this process until the power-ups disappear or there are no more left to pick up. After receiving enough damage, the bulbs on the vines will open up and blossom into a white shark head that fires incendiary missiles from its eyes (or more appropriately, its eyes being the missiles themselves) and a tyrannosaur head that fires a powerful laser beam. The new monsters follow the same basic patterns as their bud forms, although obviously the player should be aware of their improved attacks. The shark in particular can perform a variation of the ramming attack from its bud form where it performs several lunges in a row all across the screen, which as mentioned, can deal multiple hits at once, often resulting in an almost instant death to a full health character if not careful. After defeating the bulbs, the mouth will open up and reveal a weak point that can be destroyed with just a few hits, causing Marian II to explode. Gallery Marian II - 02.png|In-game sprites Marian II - 03.png|Concept art Marian II - 04.png|Tyrannosaur and white shark buds concept art Marian II - 05.png|Attack patterns sketch Marian II - 06.png|Preliminary development stage Trivia *Throughout the course of the mission, several computers in the background can be seen depicting (and forewarning) the experiments performed in the laboratory which lead to the creation of Marian II. *In Mission 9, the player actually slides down the first section of the stage on Marian II's remains. *The name "Marian II" is a reference to the 1986 film Little Shop of Horrors (itself a remake of the 1960 original film). In it, a meek flower shop employee named Seymour obtains a mysterious plant, which he names "Audrey II" after his longtime crush Audrey (much like Skullmageddon's crush on Marian). Audrey II grows rapidly when fed blood and develops an insatiable thirst for the stuff, as well as the ability to speak. Category:Black Dragon Clan Category:Mutants Category:Double Dragon Neon bosses